Sidelines
by Ange Noir
Summary: Horio X Tomoka. One sided romances are never easy and Horio contemplates that while standing next to the girl he has his own one sided love on. Crappy summary but not a crappy story.


Disclaimer: With my more than two years fanfiction experience, I don't own Prince of Tennis.

Ange: I'm so happy I made a one-shot that stayed a one-shot. This is a Horio x Tomo ficlet though it's sadly one-sided on Horio's side. I was suffering a bit of writer's block you can say so I wrote this to get me out of the habit. After this I'll finish up my T-Zone then work on Laundromat. For now just enjoy this piece and don't forget to review.

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Sidelines

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She was looking at him again.

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Well they all were. How could they not? If he lost then that meant the end of their tennis team for this season. But she looks at him differently. She always looks at him even when everyone else wasn't. He knew because he looks at her, wishing for her to think of him the same way she viewed their star ace, maybe even more so.

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He shouldn't be worried though because it is all one sided on her part. That guy could never think of her the way she thinks of him. The way he himself also thinks of her. That person's life is centered around tennis. That is their star, their freshman regular.

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Even so, he still cursed the talented Ryoma with his stupid 'mada mada dane's'.

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What did Echizen have that he didn't? Sure Ryoma is talented but that's it. Okay so maybe he's a little smarter than him and good looking too. Add to the fact that he's a freshman regular. But looks, talents, and smarts aren't everything. And so what if Ryoma's nicer than he can ever be. His 'cool' attitude isn't so awesome once you think about it.

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He on the other hand is a way better choice. He's attainable for one thing. Ryoma seems to be on a different plane than everyone else. Even when they first met he thought so. Sure he may not be that great at tennis like Ryoma, but he's improving at least. He might get the worst marks in his class but grades aren't everything. His looks might not be the best either but so what. You would think girls would want to date an average guy so that they wouldn't run the risk of him being stolen by some other chick. He could be mean sometimes but aren't all boys. Besides he wouldn't be that to the girl he likes. Well, he'll try not to at least thinking back on past occurrences.

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When did he start being so jealous of Ryoma? Ryoma is his friend. Friends aren't suppose to be jealous of each other and definitely not over some girl. It wasn't like this in the beginning that's for sure. He was so happy when Ryoma made it as a regular. He cheered just as loudly as the rest during his matches. Lately though he couldn't scrounge up the same enthusiasm as everyone else. How could he when the girl he likes maybe even love cheers next to him with adoration in her eyes that would never be directed towards him?

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What did he see in her anyways? When she first started showing up he thought see was just another fangirl of Ryoma. Well even now she still is but she stayed when the others left. She came to the tournaments and kept on cheering even when it seems they were doomed to losing. Not only that but she cheered for everyone, not just Ryoma. Soon he grew use to her presence no matter how much it seemed to rub him the wrong way. He grew too use to her though, automatically noticing when wasn't there. Pretty soon he wanted to be on the courts even more desperately than before just so she could cheer him on. Just so her attention would be focused on him. Why did he have to like her so when it can only be one-sided and does he have to do to stop feeling this way?

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He knew that she wouldn't like him no matter how hard he tried. He couldn't let it rest at that though, it wasn't in his nature. So he stands on the sidelines right next to her doing all that he can to get her to glance his way if only for a moment.

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"Ohhhh! Look! Look at that guy's move. How did he do it?"

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He was pulled from his thoughts to pay more attention at the match going on now. Thoughtfully stroking his chin he began to explain, "Well with my two years of tennis experience…"

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"Stupid Horio," Tomoka, angrily cut him off while smacking him on the head with a brightly tasseled pompom, "you're never right so you should just cut that out!"

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Yes this might be the only attention she would ever give him but that's more than enough.

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For now.

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A/N: Review please and thankyou! My back has been acting up from tennis so I can't be at the computer for long but I'll be sure to reply and update my other stories xD. This may not be great but it's decent at least. Like dialogue I suck at drawn out monologues like these. 


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